The Simple Hack For Keeping Mixing Bowls In Place On The Counter

If you spend a lot of time cooking and baking at home, you know efficiency is crucial. As a result, it helps to take a page out of the professional chefs' playbook when it comes to mixing bowls, which are prone to sliding around the counter as you work. Simply placing a damp towel under the bowl will keep it stable and allow you to expertly mix ingredients with ease.

Whether working with a spoon or using an electric device, proper mixing ensures your recipes turn out the way you intended. When the bowl slides all over the counter, you'll spend more time keeping it in place than you will mixing the ingredients together. A sliding bowl also puts you at risk of injury when using an electric hand mixer, which can render you out of commission in the kitchen until you're fully healed. While this tip appears simple enough, getting the details right ensures the hack is a resounding success.

For recipes that require ingredients to be added as they're being mixed together, home chefs will find the process all but impossible without a stand mixer (thankfully kitchen space isn't an issue anymore). Using a damp towel to stabilize the bowl is key in this regard, as it will free up the hand you would normally use to hold the bowl. One method involves wetting the towel and ringing it out so that it's damp, but not soaking wet. From there, you can fold the towel and place it under the bowl for added support.

You can also experiment with another damp towel method to keep mixing bowls steady. Instead of folding the towel so it lays flat on the counter, you can form it into a ring-like shape and place the bowl in the middle. The towel will form a perfect nest for your bowl, and you'll be free to use both hands when mixing ingredients together. Of course, there are plenty of other mixing bowl tips you can add to your home cooking arsenal, as well.

Most home cooks have experienced the agony of having a spoon slide into the gooey mixture in a mixing bowl, which results in a necessary pause for a quick clean-up before continuing the preparation. You can avoid this common issue with a simple household item: The humble elastic band. Simply take the band and wrap it around the handle of the spoon where it will meet the lip of the bowl. The band will hold the spoon in place when not in use and you won't need to go digging through the mixture to retrieve it.

The temperature of glass and metal mixing bowls is also worth considering when it comes to the quality of finished recipes. If the bowl is too cold, it will prevent ingredients from coming together properly. This is especially pertinent when making cakes, as a cold bowl can prevent eggs and butter from being infused with the proper amount of air. If the bowl feels cool to the touch, turn it upside down and run warm water over the exterior for a few seconds. Now you can rest assured that the temperature of the bowl won't transfer to the ingredients inside.